Children's Home run by Dial4care Recruitment Ltd in Bedford

Inspection report for children's home: 2801411 1 Registered provider: Dial4care Recruitment Limited

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Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children's home

This home is run by a private provider and provides care for up to one child with emotional and/or behavioural difficulties.

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Information about this children's home

A manager been in post since October 2025 and is not yet registered. They have submitted their application to register with Ofsted.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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good

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

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good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers good

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good

The children's home provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children's home: 2801411 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

03/03/2025 Full Good Inspection report for children's home: 2801411 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Since the last inspection, 2 children have moved out of the home, and 2 children have moved into the home. There is one child currently living at the home. The child was spoken to during the inspection.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children are welcomed to the home with a hamper of personalised items, supporting them to feel settled. Children's views are listened to and their bedrooms are changed in accordance with their preferences. When children leave, they take photograph memory books that are personalised and reflect the children's time and accomplishments.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child has recently moved to the home. The staff are starting to build trusting relationships with them and listen to the child's views. There is an exciting activity programme, which is bespoke. Staff have taken the child to activities that reflect the child's interests. These have provided new opportunities for the child.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported to attend education. The staff advocate for the children to ensure that they are receiving the right type of education for their learning. One child attended a horse sanctuary as a form of education. Staff have pursued a return to mainstream school for one child who has been out of education.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff bring skills and expertise to the home. They provide healthy, nutritious meals, and children learn from watching staff cook. Fresh fruit is available and a nutritious diet is encouraged to support a healthy lifestyle. Children are supported with their health and wellbeing and have their primary health checks.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

One-to-one sessions supported one child with their independence skills. For another child, staff were unable to engage them in productive sessions. It was unclear how staff tried to engage the child in because there are no details or wider context in the limited records.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is a small, semi-detached house on a residential estate. Local amenities enable children to walk to the shops and food outlets. The house has a welcome and well-kept front garden. However, the rear garden has damaged furniture and decorating items that look unsightly. There are areas of floor seals and door handles that have poor standards of paintwork. Some floor sealants in the cloakroom and kitchen floor are stained. New rugs have been used to hide stains on the carpets. Overall, while clean and tidy, the furniture and decor is dated and does not reflect the children's views or preferences.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

Children's risks are identified and managed well. Risk assessments are updated after incidents and are clear and bespoke. Children's risk assessments take into consideration Inspection report for children's home: 2801411 4 local risks factors. When incidents have occurred, the manager and service manager have had good oversight. They recognise when staff require additional training to support children's safety and wellbeing.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

Staff understand the risks around using the internet. One child is able to play online games with supervision to keep them safe from known risks. This allows the child to have safe internet time. Staff have communicated with professionals when there have been safeguarding concerns and have asked for internet access to be reviewed.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

When needed, staff have used de-escalation techniques to reduce the likelihood of escalation in behavioural incidents. Staff use physical interventions when appropriate to keep themselves and the child safe. Physical interventions are proportionate and clearly recorded.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

When children have gone missing from home, the staff have advocated for the children to have return home interviews. They take into consideration why the children are going missing and have put measures in place to try and reduce these incidents.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

Following an allegation about a member of staff, the local authority designated officer (LADO) asked the home to undertake an internal investigation. Since this incident, the registered manager has changed. There is no evidence that an internal investigation has been undertaken by the previous manager. Therefore, advice from the LADO has not been followed.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The management team is professional, reflective and knowledgeable. They are invested in the children's care and are open to making improvements. The manager identified the strengths and weaknesses at the home. The manager has been proactive in improving her own knowledge and skills.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has a good understanding of the child's needs. She has high aspirations and is developing plans to help the child overcome challenges and experience new opportunities.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There is a strong staffing team. Staff are professional and engage well with the child. Staff's expertise is recognised. They bring a diverse range of skills that enhance children's experiences. Staff have a good level of training and engage well with the child.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The management team provides regular supervision sessions and annual appraisals for staff. Staff receive incentives, including staff champion of the month. Staff are given specific responsibilities and have opportunities to grow and develop. The staff team has a good level of training. Several members of staff provided positive feedback that working at the home has been a valuable experience and has supported their professional development. Inspection report for children's home: 2801411 5 The manager challenges other professionals and advocates for children, particularly about their health, education and contact with their families. The children's views are taken into consideration through feedback forms and discussions. Following these, changes are made. This helps children to raise any concerns in the knowledge that they will be heard.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Several one-to-one sessions with children include discussions about sensitive issues. Children feel able to approach staff and speak honestly. However, the records highlight a lack of professional curiosity from staff. It is unclear why one child would not engage in key-working sessions or how staff supported this child. This has not been identified by the manager in her oversight.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Professionals provided positive feedback about the care that children have received and the progress made. Inspection report for children's home: 2801411 6

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the home is a nurturing and supportive environment that meets the needs of children. In particular, ensure that the home is well maintained and provides a welcoming environment for children. (Guide to the Children's Homes Regulations, including the quality standards, page 15, paragraph 3.9)  The registered person should ensure that the home's procedures take into account the views of appropriate local services and have regard to police and local authority protocols for responding to incidents. In particular, maintain good oversight of incidents and identify when staff have not explored potential safeguarding concerns. ('Guide to the Children's Homes Regulations, including the quality standards', page 45, paragraph 9.29)  The registered person should ensure that staff are familiar with the home's policies on record-keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective and clear

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Recommendations

recording. Records should be completed in a way that is easy to understand what has happened and when. ('Guide to the Children's Homes Regulations, including the quality standards', page 62, paragraph 14.4)

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Information about this inspection

Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children and young people, using the social care common inspection framework. This inspection was carried out under the Care Standards Act 2000 to assess the effectiveness of the service, how it meets the core functions of the service as set out in legislation, and to consider how well it complies with The Children's Homes (England) Regulations 2015 and the 'Guide to the Children's Homes Regulations, including the quality standards'. Inspection report for children's home: 2801411 7

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Children's home details

Registered provider: Dial4care Recruitment Ltd

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Children's home details

Registered provider address: 2nd Floor Offices, 22 Grove Place, Bedford MK40 3JJ

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Inspectors

Abby Lynch, Social Care Inspector Deirdra Keating, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: 2801411 8 achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children's social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, further education and skills, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children's services, and inspects services for looked after children, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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